study 8-11 hrs / day ??

11 hours a day! That's nuts!

8 hours a day for 4 weeks worked for me. I treated it like it was my job.

everybody is different. You must do what YOU need to do to get your score. Some may need 10 to 12 hours per day for 6 weeks.

More power to those that can manage 12hrs q day for 6 weeks.
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I averaged about 8 hours/day 6 days a week for 6 weeks, but everybody has different schedules that worked for them. I spent about 10hr/day for the first 3 weeks on review books and some questions, 6hrs a day for 2 weeks of first aid review and some questions, and then about 12hr/day my last week with first aid review and lots of questions. Hope that helps.

I definitely agree with the above, you have to do what is appropriate for you. I think the best way to acheive this is make a schedule for what books/materials you want to cover before the exam. Plan and stick to it. I remember times when I wanted to kill myself while studying, but you only get one chance at this, so just keep telling yourself that!

i studyed from 10 am to 2 am every day for about 7 weeks, truely lost touch with the outside world, but i can assure you that you will rather work hard now, than later regret it.

anyone have a good study schedule they'd be willing to share?

Each person is different in regards to what works best for studying. Having said that, I do think that a well planned study schedule and development of routines can help almost everyone improve their performance when it comes to Step I. Ultimately, the amount of time someone has to spend studying will depend on how diligent they were in studying during their first two years of medical school and how well they retained that information (except for the genius, photographic memory type of people that drive the rest of us crazy...)

I'd recommend trying to simulate the test day as much as possible so you're in a routine when test day comes. For me, that meant getting my brain used to waking up in the AM and starting questions around 7:30 or so doing blocks of 50 randomized questions/hr just like the test for the first part of the AM (I gradually increased the amount of blocks I would go through the closer it came to my test date to get used to sitting through that many questions). I would then review over the tests looking through the correct and incorrect answer explanations (the HUGE benefit of question banks that so many people overlook) until early afternoon, and then study subject material that I'd scheduled to review for that day (e.g., spending 3 afternoons going through Biochem, 6 for Path, 4 for Physiology, etc.) for the rest of the day until about 7 or so. Then I had a couple of hours to go workout, get fresh air, spend some time with family/friends, or whatever else I needed to do after that and went to bed at a reasonable hour. It got REALLY old doing that day in and day out, but paid off in the long run. It's a short term sacrifice that is much easier to undertake than pulling your hair out trying to make up for and worrying about a mediocre Step I score when trying to get residency interviews.

i agree with getting your brain used to functioning at the hour of the testing. for me, i got to studying by 730am and kept at it until 730pm. i would aim to get 6 hours of solid work done in those 12 hours. so, i would start strong with 2 hours on and 1 off and then more off than on later in the day. this made it feel like i was never really just studying all day. i got really good a ping pong during those hour down times. after 730 pm, i would go workout and grab a drink with friends. would try and get in bed by 1130pm and start it all over the next day. i did that for 4 weeks. as far as subject, i did topic by topic during the first half of the day and then questions covering all topics later in the day to reinforce the stuff i had just reviewed and key me into what i needed to pay attention to when reviewing the next topic. good luck.

I had a schedule much like BoneBlaster; take breaks throughout the day so I felt fresh each time I returned to material. I'd get up at a decent time in the AM, start off with about 100qs, then study something that I felt was a weak point based on the qs. Then, went for a run, came back, did some reading based on a schedule, had a nice dinner, then finished up with some more qs.
Props to those who can study all the time (till 2AM!) but it's not for me; you all certainly make me feel like a slacker
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Nonetheless, I was very happy with my score.
Overall, study much the same way you have throughout undergrad and med school, don't change things up, just crank it up a notch.
-OR

Some of these guys were obviously able to do more than I could in a day. I'd start at around 9 or 10am, do q's based on organ system and then further broken down into topic, read the section in first aid. A good day was 80 q's and FA section (usually about 10-11 hours or so) Repeat 7 days x 5 weeks. Take exam - on a side note, I was left with a testing time that didn't start until 12pm - I do not recommend it - instead I would choose 8 or 9.

imo, make a schedule and STICK TO IT...there is nothing more frustrating than studying for 10 hours and feeling like you are banging your head against the wall at the end of the day...also, DON'T spend too much time reading forums on-line...

By step 1, everyone knows what works for them, and its key to personalize your schedule to be most productive...obviously adjustments can be made here or there along the way, but for the most part i would use the passed around pre-made schedule for ideas on how to study, not for an exact regimen.

You can prepare for step I in three weeks if you have done your groundwork during your second year.

Here is what to do:

1. Buy BRS pathology and First Aid in year 1 of med school
2. Every week update these with hand written comments from your micro, physio, etc classes.
3. Buy some other review books that you like. I used high yield micro behav sciences
4. Set a study schedule. My goal was 6 hrs per day for three weeks with 1 day off each week.
5. Work out or run. This was key for me
6. DO not underestimate fatigue in the test.
7. Start with 50 quest per day on QBank, then work your way up till you are doing full blocks.
8. For all the questions add notes to your first aid.
9. The last three days just read your first aid (i.e. three times)

10. Get up early the day of the test and get some exercise

On the day of the test try to fly through the first few blocks so you still have stamina for the finish.

if you are not prepared to study 30hrs/day, then don't consider ortho

I studied 12+ hrs/day for 4 wks, but I knew I had to break 250 in order to match. There are a variety of methods out there, but I used a modified Penn method which basically consists of FAx2 in the last wk along with questions. I thought the Taus method was pretty good too- you can find it on SDN. I made a PPT for the MS1/2 and will copy/paste some of the info here:

Goals:
Assesses your understanding and application of important concepts basic to medicine
Emphasis on principles/mechanisms of underlying health, disease, and modes of therapy.
Ensures mastery of not only the sciences, but also the scientific principles required for maintenance of competence.
Constructed according to an integrated content outline that organizes basic science material along two dimensions: system and process.
www.usmle.org/Examinations/step1/2010Step1.pdf


Study Methods:
There are several ways to approach the exam
Some people prefer courses while others do not
You should know what works for you
If you learned from lectures, perhaps you can take a commercial review course.
If you learned from taped lectures, you can get a 30 day Kaplan pass and watch the videos (at 2x speed if you desire)


Some basic principles:
The last week separates the ‘men from the boys’
Everyone is tired at this point
Your job is to review/do questions!
I personally reviewed first aid twice during my last week
Preparation starts from first day of med school.
Choose a plan that forces you to meticulously go through the material several times.
You will encounter subjects that you hate to review. Choose a plan that forces you to review everything, even subjects you hate.
Don’t rely on just one source (ie First Aid).
QUESTIONS!

Question Banks:
USMLE World is highly recommended
Don’t focus so much on the percentages, use it to learn the material ($100/30 days, $135/60 days, 2000 qs).
Kaplan also excellent, use during MS1/2
NBME practice tests tend to be very accurate
Use NBME 3/4 around start time to identify weak points. Use another closer to test day. ($45/exam, $60/expanded feedback)

Recommended Study Methods:
University of Pennsylvania Method (Penn Method)
Taus Method ()

Tau's Method Books:
SUBSTITUTE WITH WHATEVER YOU ARE COMFORTABLE WITH
First Aid
Rapid Review Pathology (Goljan)
Rapid Review Biochem or BRS
Goljan Audio/Slides
High Yield Behavioral Sciences
High Yield Neurosciences
High Yield Cell and Molecular Biology
Lange Review of Medical Micro and Immuno (for immuno section only)
Micro Made Ridiculously Simples
BRS Physiology (Costanza)

Distilled Tau's Method:

First run through: (75:25 study:Q’s)*
1) Consolidate all books into FA (except Goljans Rapid Review Path and HY Molecular will be used throughout and in full)
2) Listen to corresponding Goljan audio during appropriate subject/system
3) Paper question sources directly by subject after studying each subject (as specific as possible..ie cardio path, cardio phys, cardiac pharm...all individually)
4) Study for understanding, ie don’t try to memorize all the details yet
5) Take NBME 4

Second run through: (50:50 study:Q’s)*
1) Study in full systems using only FA w/ all annotations, Goljan RR, HY Molec
2) Listen to corresponding Goljan audio during appropriate subject/system for 2nd time
3) 50 UsmleWorld questions every morning in random and timed blocks of 50
5) Take NBME 2
6) Memorize more and more detail beyond just understanding

Third run through: (25:75 study:Q’s)*
1) FA, Goljan, HY molec only
2) 100 UsmleWorld questions (as above)
3) Take NBME 3
4) Everything should be fully memorized by now

Last 2 wks (men from the boys)
AM: 100 UW Questions, in random/timed blocks of 50, then go over all explanations in full
 
PM: 6 hours of studying as divided below
- get through everything in 10 Days
- final 3 day plan at the end

Another thing to note- some people get by with 6 hrs/day for 2 wks. They may be smarter than you, or they may be lying to you. Either way, I decided to leave nothing to chance as I knew this exam was my only way into ortho. I was going to give it my all without question.

Taus method worked for me, modified it to my strengths and weaknesses.

I studied from 9am-10pm, 6 days a week for 6 weeks and got a 270.... Put in the time and it will pay off.

This might be a dumb question, but does the Taus method need an altering, as it's now a few years old? I guess I'm just wondering if the actual Step 1 exam changes much in a few years time. I was just reading through the Word document from SDN, and Taus specifies certain review book editions and specific passages for certain topics... does anyone know if this can be followed exactly and still be effective? Did any of you make major modifications to it?

Thanks... just taking Step 1 in a year and already getting nervous!